The unique 'FB Australian Classic' - a custom 4 string electric cigar box guitar made in Yackandandah by Shayne Soall

Hanging out & testing driving a few guitars with Jason Workman at the National Guitar factory, San Luis Obispo, California

THE MATON CUSTOM ACOUSTIC This is where it all began for me...my first guitar was a Maton Acoustic Dreadnought, built in my home town of Melbourne, Aust. That wonderful old instrument has long been retired from active service...currently I'm playing this beauty, built for me by the Maton custom shop, with my style of acoustic blues playing in mind. It has a spruce face and carved Indian rosewood back, which gives it a great gutsy tone.

Another very special one-off! Rare USA National ResoLectric Baritone Guitar - one of only two in existence...it's a low-toned beauty!

Group portrait of the guitars on the new 'Professin' the Blues' album! Beeton resonator, Maton acoustic, 4 string 'FB Classic' cigar box guitar & the new National Style O

NATIONAL RESOLECTRIC Dating from around 1993, this is a rare Model 2. Only 78 were made - and mine is serial number 69!

MATON MS T-BYRD Check out my newest beautiful Maton! Australian Quandong with Rock Maple cap, neck & fingerboard - this guitar is a beauty... I love the Chris Kinman 'Broadcaster' pickups in my 'Blue Empress' Tele so much that we experimented with fitting them to this new baby. It's fascinating to hear the difference between the two instruments. The T-Byrd has incredible 'spanky' midtones and is proving to be versatile and very playable. Love it!

BEETON RESONATOR This beautiful brass-bodied instrument, built by Australian maker Greg Beeton, took centre stage on 'Blues for Hard Times'. It features handsomely on several songs and on the album artwork! It is a single-resonator model - and it really 'sings'. A wedding present from 'The Preacher'!

Check out the beautiful detailing on my new acoustic! Inspired by one of my favourite 'rockabilly' gig shirts, Andy Allen from Maton's Custom Shop used these great fret inlay designs - and I love the humour of having '13' (for my 'Lucky 13' album) on the 12th fret!

I'm really excited to share this recent modification from the Maton Custom shop! Back in 2003 when I won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, The Preacher gave me a 1935 American Silver Dollar as a celebration gift. It's a nod of respect to pioneering blues guitarist Memphis Minnie, who famously wore a silver dollar bracelet. The tone pot changes on my Mastersound had left a blank hole in the scratch plate, so we had the brilliant idea of setting my keepsake dollar into it - and I reckon it looks great!

THE 'BLUE EMPRESS' TELECASTER This beautifully crafted and finished custom Tele was built for me by Steve White from Florida, USA. The blue sparkle finish photographs differently according to the light. It’s fitted with Broadcaster pick-ups from Chris Kinman, Australia, for vintage tone and no hum.

MATON 'MASTERSOUND' CUSTOM ELECTRIC Originally designed as a short-scale model, this custom-shop Mastersound was one of the first long-scale versions made. The luthiers at Maton also obligingly messed around with different components, including 'hotting up' the pick-ups and converting it from a 3 pot control configuration to my generally preferred 2 pot set-up. This is a wonderful, rude-sounding guitar with lots of bottom end and it's definitely become my main instrument for both live performance and recording. The Mastersound features on the 'Lucky 13' album & my latest release 'Blues Woman'. Check out www.maton.com.au for more info on Maton guitars, including their innovative use of Australian native timbers as tone woods.

MATON CUSTOM BB1200 HOLLOW BODY SEMI-ACOUSTIC A beautiful hollow body electric that combines a great look with a classic tone. The Queensland Maple body, capped with Victorian Blackwood, and a Rock Maple neck gives maximum sustain, a beautifully warm and rounded tone, but still with plenty of 'bite'.

THE OL' TELE A wonderful, honest old plank of wood...this was my first electric guitar (I started out on borrowed instruments). A '68 Fender Telecaster that had been 'messed' with by the time I got it; with a strange Gibson style bridge - although it’s currently ‘in retirement’, I’ve tried to get it back closer to the original set up